Blair faces storm over sleazes 'lies'

George Jones, Political Editor

12:00AM GMT 20 Mar 2001

LABOUR was embroiled in more damaging sleaze allegations last night after the Tories demanded a new inquiry into claims that Geoffrey Robinson, a former Treasury minister and multi-millionaire, misled Parliament over a £200,000 payment from Robert Maxwell.

The reigniting of the Robinson affair, which has already forced two ministerial resignations, will be a serious embarrassment for Tony Blair as the expected May 3 election nears. Stephen Byers, the Trade and Industry Secretary, threatened to take legal action over accusations that he "buried" an official report disclosing the payment.

Mr Robinson repeated his earlier denials that he received the money from the late publishing tycoon. But the Conservatives claimed that there was now "almost irrefutable evidence" that Mr Robinson received the payment. They called on Elizabeth Filkin, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, to reopen an inquiry.

David Heathcoat-Amory, their trade and industry spokesman, said it appeared that Mr Robinson had "lied to the House of Commons" about the payment. He said: "I cannot see how he can stand as a Labour candidate in the forthcoming election." The Conservatives also kept up the pressure on Keith Vaz, the embattled minister for Europe.

They intend to use a Commons debate on foreign affairs tomorrow to press him over allegations that he failed to disclose his financial links with a charity run by the Hinduja brothers. Downing Street signalled Mr Blair's continued confidence in Mr Vaz, who will accompany the Prime Minister to a European summit in Stockholm this week.

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Mr Robinson, Labour MP for Coventry North West, has always denied receiving £200,000 from Mr Maxwell for helping to run one of his companies, Hollis Industries. Mr Maxwell died in November 1991, apparently after falling from his yacht off the Canary Islands. When evidence of the payment came to light in 1998, Mr Robinson, then a Treasury minister, said it had been mistakenly included in Hollis's accounts.

However, a new book by Tom Bower, entitled The Paymaster, claims to have documentary evidence showing that the payment was made. An invoice that Mr Robinson was said to have submitted from his home address for the cash was marked "paid". Other records were said to have been unearthed by a Department of Trade and Industry inspector who reported his findings to Mr Byers in 1999.

Mr Robinson issued a brief statement repeating his denial. It said: "Today's story has failed to present any new information. The claim that I was paid £200,000 as chairman of Hollis Industries has been made before and was fully investigated by the DTI, who have today made their position clear about the Bower story.

"My own position has been absolutely clear throughout: neither I nor any company associated with me received this money." He did not make any reference to the documents produced by Mr Bower or attempt to challenge their authenticity. In December 1999 Mr Byers gave a Commons written answer saying that the DTI did not propose to take any further action on the inquiry into Mr Robinson's business affairs.

Mr Robinson had been forced to resign from the Government the previous year over his £373,000 home loan to Peter Mandelson, then the Trade and Industry Secretary, who also quit the Cabinet. Mr Robinson's denial over the payment from Mr Maxwell was accepted by the Commons standards and privileges committee, which halted its inquiry.

Alastair Campbell, the Prime Minister's press secretary, was also said to have stated categorically that Mr Robinson had not received £200,000 or any money as the result of his chairmanship. Downing Street said last night that it could not find the quotation in its records, but did not deny that it could have been made.

It reacted angrily to an accusation in the Daily Mail, which is serialising Mr Bower's book, that Mr Byers "deliberately buried" the DTI inspector's report. No 10 gave Mr Byers the go-ahead to take legal action against the newspaper. This is unusual for a serving Cabinet minister.

Mr Campbell, who described the story as a "smear", said that Mr Byers would be seeking an apology and a donation to charity. A DTI spokesman said: "The Daily Mail will be hearing from solicitors representing Mr Byers shortly." Because the inquiry had been delegated to officials, Mr Byers had not seen the papers generated by the investigation.

The Mail's second instalment of the book alleged that, at the height of the row over Mr Robinson's financial affairs in late 1997, Gordon Brown drafted a press release that was rejected by Sir Terry Burns, the Treasury permanent secretary. Sir Terry, now Lord Burns, is said to have expressed concern that the statement did not accurately reflect the arrangements Mr Robinson had established to handle his wealth when he was appointed a minister.

The Mail said it stood "100 per cent" behind its report. "We note that the Government has not denied the central allegation that the former paymaster general, a man who financially helped the Prime Minister and the Chancellor and also provided them with the use of his holiday homes, lied repeatedly to MPs and the parliamentary standards commissioner about a £200,000 cheque from Robert Maxwell."

In 1998 Mrs Filkin's predecessor, Sir Gordon Downey, said that while there could be no certainty, on the evidence he had seen "I think the likelihood is that Mr Robinson did not receive payment of £200,000 and that the published accounts are in error".